Helen Salisbury: Comprehensive care and patient demand

GPs are buckling under their workloads, and the bottom line is that we simply have too much to do. We’re trained to listen to patients, discuss options with them, and arrive at shared decisions—but how can this work when demand for medical attention so far outstrips supply?The NHS’s founding values are deeply ingrained in me: it’s a service that should be universal, comprehensive, and free at the point of use. But perhaps we need to ask what we mean by comprehensive: does that mean that it should meet all needs or all demands? And who decides what counts as medical need? These are really difficult questions and ones that we mostly try to ignore, as the answers will inevitably be unacceptable to some.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is tasked with deciding what treatments should and should not be funded by the NHS. However, the time required to…
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